Gov. Mike Pence supports limited use of cellphone surveillance device

Most Americans have paid little thought to the fact that their smartphone is a mobile tracking device that broadcasts their location and data about who they’re calling and texting.(Photo: Steve Healey)

Gov. Mike Pence said Wednesday he supports the state police's limited use of a surveillance device that acquires cell phone data as long as it is subject to judicial review.

The technology, which can be used to potentially collect data from hundreds of people at a time, has drawn the concern of civil liberties advocates as well as a group of Indiana Republican lawmakers drafting laws to require greater privacy protections.

Pence on Wednesday wouldn't say whether police should obtain search warrants before using the technology, which he said he believes saves lives. But he made it clear that he supports the use of the device only "in a limited number of cases when it is in the public interest and with strict judicial review."

Speaking with reporters, Pence said he met with police officials last Thursday for a briefing after an Indianapolis Star report revealed the agency had acquired "Stingray" technology for $373,995.

"I believe this technology is in the interest of public safety, and I believe it has enhanced our ability to both protect and save lives," Pence told reporters. "I was informed that in the limited number of cases where this technology has been used that it has only been used with strict judicial oversight."

Bursten said state police comply with Indiana law, but wouldn't say whether the agency uses Stingrays without a warrant. He has declined to answer questions or provide records about the devices, citing the need to protect investigators' methods in fighting crime and terrorism.

A group of Indiana state senators is drafting legislation that would require Indiana police officials to obtain warrants. They are concerned the devices or similar technology could abuse Hoosiers' rights to privacy from unlawful searches by government agencies.

"I'm encouraged by the fact that there have been strict protocols used in the past," one of the senators, Brent Waltz, R-Greenwood, said Wednesday of Pence's remarks. "However, codifying these protections would safeguard our rights while providing for security at the same time."

The suitcase-sized devices can track the movements of anyone nearby with a cellphone. The equipment also captures the phone numbers of people's incoming and outgoing calls and text messages.

A USA Today investigation, published jointly with The Star earlier this month, revealed that at least 25 local police agencies in the U.S., including Indiana State Police, have contracts with Melbourne, Fla.-based Harris Corp. for Stingrays.

Police officials at other agencies across the U.S. told USA Today that they have to be secretive about how they use the technology to foil terror plots and catch criminals. Some said the devices only are used in extraordinary circumstances and only to hunt for a single phone at a time, not to collect data from thousands of callers.

But the technology often is used with a simple court order, not a warrant that would require detectives and prosecutors to present to a judge why they believe a crime occurred.

Court orders generally require detectives to show only that the data collected would aid in an investigation, a standard that's much easier to meet.